Clinical Informaticist

Store and secure medical information.

Quick Stats

Outlook

Good

Salary Range

$21,000 – $53,000

Data from U.S. Department of Labor

What do Clinical Informaticists do?

The field of medicine involves dealing with people on a one-on-one basis. But it also involves dealing with data about people, medical histories, disease spread, and more. This information must be analyzed, and it must be protected. This is the job of a Clinical Informaticist.

Clinical Informaticists work within the information technology department of a hospital, clinic, or insurance company. If you’re a Clinical Informaticist, you use a sophisticated array of computer programs, and you must know how to use them well. You enter data, such as the names and medical information of the patients of your company.

You may also write programs for your company to help sort this data. Those programs alert Doctors when patients have conflicting medications prescribed, for example, or let researchers know how many patients in your clinic have a certain form of cancer. At times, the system you’re using spit out these reports for you without extra programming, but if these programs malfunction, you need to call the manufacturer to get the problem solved.

If your company wants to switch to a different computer system, you’re required to test this system to make sure it works before it’s purchased. This may involve many hours of entering false data and running false reports. You may enjoy looking for coding errors during this period.

Much of the information you deal with are incredibly sensitive. You won’t be able to share information about your discoveries with your friends and family, which can make conversation around the dinner table a little sparse. Prepare to be mysterious about what you’ve learned.

Should I be a Clinical Informaticist?

You should have
a
high school
degree or higher and share these traits:

Independent:
You enjoy flying solo and doing things your own way.

Trustworthy:
You are known for your personal integrity and honesty.

Detail Oriented:
You pay close attention to all the little details.

Also known as:
Clinical Data Specialist, Clinical Secretary

How to become a Clinical Informaticist

Most Clinical Informaticists have no higher education and get on-the-job training. Think about earning a Certificate or Associate's degree to increase your competitiveness in the field.